Irish immigration and the ‘condition of England’ question: The roots of an historiographical tradition

This article argues that the study of Irish immigration in nineteenth‐century Britain has focused for too long ‐ and often uncritically ‐on what the Victorians themselves wrote about the Irish. It is argued here that historians have taken their lead from Condition of England writers, like Kay, Engels, Mayhew and A. B. Reach, with the result that our understanding of the emergence of Irish communities in Britain has been distorted in two ways. First, historians have concentrated upon ‘apartness’ and ‘settlement’ and have made little effort to assess ‘development’. Secondly, such writings have until recently focused especially on the years 1830 to 1870 to the exclusion of others. This article examines some of the key writings of contemporaries and argues that they represent the beginnings of an historiographical tradition which scholars must now look beyond.     

Warfare,social theory and West European development

This paper explores the intellectual reasons for the failure of sociology to give sufficient attention to warfare and military organisation as central problems in social theory. These reasons are to be found in the dominance of liberal functionalism and Marxism as paradigms in the development of sociology. A reorientation of social theory is called for and it is suggested that writers in the neo-Machiavellian tradition provide an important corrective to sociological orthodoxy in respect of the role of war and military organisation in social life. The paper goes on to show that these factors are crucial components in an adequate account of one of the most important problems raised by sociology: why did hegemonic capitalism develop originally in the West and not elsewhere. Thus, ironically, those factors which sociology has tended to ignore are actually the key to solving one of its central problems.     

The Folk and the Sociology of Takata Yasuma: —His Life and Thoughts—

Abstract  Takata Yasuma, hailed as the father of sociology in Japan and recipient of the prestigious Cultural Meritorious Award in 1964, was also admired by western sociologists for his originality. In this article I discuss The Folk in 1941 with his discussions on ethnic problems around the year 1940 in connection with his inner life and thoughts.
First, I point out Takata makes much of the subjective aspect of the folk, or folk-consciousness, and distinguishes it by this ethnic ego from similar but enforced groups such as nation-state. Then I analyze his folk theory in connection with class, the modern state, nationalism, capitalism and imperialism, and conclude that Takata conflates nationalism quite easily and directly with imperialism without defining narrow-minded nationalism clearly though he rejects Lenin's view of imperialism as the consequence of the development of capitalism.
Secondly I consider the interrelationship of the folk with the slowly but enlarging world society, and make clear that Takata appreciates the socialization of interest (Vergesellschaftung) in the progress of society, though in his heart he has pursued Gemeinschaft 9s the child of a village in spirit. Finally, I emphasize that folk theory thoroughly reflects his inner life and thoughts: the perfect leveler, a free-spoken person, a village child in spirit, and a scholar of originality     

KILLING THE ANGEL IN A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN. BEING AS UNCONSCIOUS AS POSSIBLE WHEN WRITING UP QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

The author begins this paper by establishing a context of writing within a qualitative research framework. He goes on to identify blocks to writing in part one of the paper. In part two various strategies for negotiating these blocks are suggested and illustrated. Extracts of writings from George Orwell, Virginia Woolf, Dylan Thomas and Ted Hughes among others are used to show how these great writers have acknowledged and negotiated blocks in the production of their work. Links and connections with writing up qualitative research are made. The crucial and recurring theme of the paper is that the unconscious is to be trusted as an invaluable ally in accessing and producing writing of value. Thinking about writing, while necessary to some extent, should therefore be given second place to the primary importance of clearing a space within which the unconscious can be befriended and surprise us and thereby facilitate the writing process.     

MAPPING CULTURAL/POLITICAL DEBATES IN LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES

The theorization of postmodernism as the cultural logic of late capitalism has generated a number of debates among Latinos in the US and among Latin American critics in particular. This article examines a number of writings published between 1989 and 1994 by Latin American critics focusing on the viability of seeing Latin America as postmodern. We argue that in the rush to accept First World theoretical frameworks, there has been much confusion and a collapsing of economic, political and cultural categories. Conflating market growth and shifts with social change and the availability of a plurality of consumer goods with the distribution of goods and services, some critics have been quick to label cultural production in Latin America as ‘postmodern’. What is needed is a delimitation of the categories used, an examination of the cultural debate in relation to other debates on development, social movements, democratization and alliance politics, as well as an examination of local intellectual debates within the global context of restructuring and transnational capital.     

Disabling Pasts,Enabling Futures? How Does the Changing Nature of Capitalism Impact on the Disabled Worker and Jobseeker?

Disability scholars have invested much in a stage theory of capitalism, which affords little scope for disabled workers and job seekers this side of Socialism. Parallel discussions of choices and empowerment rarely penetrates the world of paid employment. Mainstream policy writers meanwhile have been concerned with an atheoretical appraisal of enhancing access to and retention of employment. Neither approach has entered into an examination of the changing nature of employment and the impact of wider relationship between state and capitalism. In this way, the important shift to new social movements in progressing identity and social rights may have overlooked the monumental, but not irreversible loss of power in the enabling state and of old social movements. The article offers a starting point in our understanding of the changing nature of employment, its likely impact on disabled people, whilst asking for a reappraisal of the possible links between old and new social movements.     

A Question of History: John Berger's Labours

Abstract John Berger's work of the past dozen years, bearing witness to the disappearance of the European peasantry and seeking to rescue the practice of storytelling that it might be renewed and turned against the cultural amnesia of both industrial capitalism and State socialism, has represented a further articulation of his commitment to the necessity of critical historical thought and consciousness. This essay reviews Berger's earlier work and considers his most recent writings in terms of his commitment to historical remembrance and imagination. Though Berger's project is still found to be extremely compelling, the author finds Berger's formulation of the question of 'survival' as the central question of contemporary history problematic.     

Marxism as a capitalist tool

Just as the two sides in the Cold War agreed that Capitalism and Communism were “the” two alternatives, so the two sides in the intellectual Great Debate agreed on a common framing of questions with the defenders of capitalism taking one side and Marxists taking the other. From the viewpoint of economic democracy (e.g., a labor-managed market economy), this late Great Debate between capitalism and socialism was as misframed as would be an antebellum Great Debate between the private or public ownership of slaves. The Great Debate between capitalism and socialism is now in the dustbin of intellectual history, but Marxism still plays an important role in sustaining the misframing of the questions so that the defenders of the present employment system do not have to face the real questions that separate that system from a system of economic democracy. In that sense, Marxism has become the ultimate capitalist tool.     

Black Sociology and Phenomenological Sociology*

This paper is a comparative analysis of black sociology and phenomenological sociology and an attempt to show how phenomenology might be used to provide an epistemological foundation for black sociology. Attention is directed toward the writings of black and phenomenological sociologists. Arguments rest on appeals to authorities—quotations from and citations to influential writers. The specific points of comparison are the way the protagonists of the perspectives (1) define their activities, (2) criticize conventional sociology, and (3) investigate social reality. Epistemological issues are examined within a framework of the standard methodological problems of validity and reliability.     

The Anglican clergy and the early development of British sociology

The theoretical bias evident in histories of sociological thought and practice has tended to minimise some other important influences on its development. One such is the relationship between ‘Christian Sociology’ as articulated by the writers of such Church of England organisations as the Christian Social Union and the Christendom Group. A reading of the early journal publications of early twentieth century British sociology suggests an inter-relationship between the input of the Anglican clergy and the emergence of a scientific, university-based discipline. With particular reference to the sociological intentions of the 1924 Conference on Politics, Economics and Citizenship (COPEC) and to the writings of the Christian Sociologist, Maurice B. Reckitt, this article suggests that the view that the relationship between Christian and academic sociology can be interpreted simply as a ‘phase’ in sociological history does less than justice to the complexities of a neglected aspect of the professionalisation of the discipline.     

Neoliberalisation,the social investment state and social work

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the challenges to social work evolving from two major discourses contributing to the common sense contextualising social work within the new spirit of capitalism and the governing of the soul. Beside neo-liberal ideas and values challenging social work values and the welfare state, the question is also about managerialism. To what extent is the social worker able to contribute to liberating, reflexive critique, or exert pastoral power? I have chosen to see how the idea of the social investment state may be linked to Rose’s and Foucault’s ideas about expanding governmentality and end my discussion by relating to some of the early writing on social work’s challenges in confronting ideas and practices interpreted as neoliberalisation moves.     

Park,Doyle, and Hughes: Neglected Antecedents of Goffman's Theory of Ceremony1

Erving Goffman's writings on etiquette and front are read in the context of a tradition of Chicago school studies on such topics. Robert E. Park formed this tradition from two strains of thought: one based on the writings of Herbert Spencer, and the other on that of Georg Simmel. A review of writings by Park, and by his students Bertram W. Doyle and Everett C. Hughes, provides a basis for analyzing Goffman's original contributions to the tradition, a synthesis of the two strains. Goffman both advanced the line of study and shared in its biases. These limitations must be overcome if future research in the tradition is to proceed.     

‘Not quite history’:The Autobiographies H. Selby Msimang and R.V. Selope Thema and the writing of South African history

This paper examines the kind of contribution autobiographical writings may make to an historical reworking of the events in which the writers are involved. Autobiography, being the very conscious revaluation ‐ often re‐creation — and presentation of the self, is a most problematic genre. Its narrative perspective is subjective; its authentication almost entirely personal, rather than documentary. These limitations should flash red lights at the historian: not to stop, but to proceed cautiously. For, problematic as self‐presentation may be, it is an additional source, speaking in a particular voice. It leads us beyond the petitions, letters, commissions and court records, vital as they are, into those sensitive areas of psyche: emotion, pride, deception and creativity, where many historians fear to tread. Much South African historical writing oversimplifies the role of individual character in helping to shape movements and events. Rather than depicting the complex ways in which subjects and societies interact, many historical studies have read off the politics and motivation of the individual from the organisation to which he or she belonged. Msimang and Thema are significant individuals, at once representative and idiosyncratic; deeply involved in SANNC politics, but also furthering their own careers. Their autobiographical writings both reveal and attempt to conceal important moments in their pasts and in so doing, exemplify the ways in which autobiographical writing may speak to the historian.     

Transatlantic Encounters and the Origins of James Henley Thornwell's Proslavery Ideology

The European travel experiences of antebellum Southern intellectual James Henley Thornwell and his subsequent publications in the USA shed light on the history of transatlantic ideological exchange. This case study indicates that British antislavery concepts failed to sway Thornwell; instead, his writings reveal that European travel sometimes strengthened Americans’ proslavery beliefs rather than fostering antislavery views. Condemning abolitionists as illogical fanatics and blaming capitalism for the wretched situation of London's laborers, he returned home a staunch defender of the slave system and paternalism. A leading intellectual, Thornwell profoundly influenced the South, including secessionists, through his powerful proslavery argument.     

The capitalist metabolism: an unachieved subsumption of life under the value-form

Abstract

This article views capitalism not only as a mode of production, but also as a mediation of the reproduction of life (human and non-human), following the concept of ‘social metabolism’ that Marx employs to analyze the interaction between the individuals composing a society and their natural environment. Insofar as the ‘value-form’ is the distinctive social relation of capitalism, it appears necessary to ask whether the metabolic process of reproduction can be fully subsumed under this form. Marx takes for granted the idea that the reproduction of labor-power consists only in the consumption of commodities resulting from abstract labor, thus omitting the appropriation of unpaid domestic work, mostly performed by women. Feminist criticism clarifies how capitalism always depends on some reproductive work being appropriated for the accumulation of surplus-value without being integrated in the value-form. Following Jason W. Moore, I attempt to indicate that the same logic is at work for the reproduction of non-human life under the capitalist value-form, thus contradicting the sustainable reproduction of its own natural conditions. These two limitations of the capitalist subsumption of life open a new space for an expanded critique of capitalism, which goes beyond the exploitation of waged work by reflecting upon the concerns of feminist and ecological struggles.     

The Two Hundred and Fifty Year Transition: How the American Empire Became Capitalist

This paper aims to rethink United States history from the colonial era through the Civil War and Reconstruction by examining how capitalism and empire joined together as the logic of expansion increasingly became driven by the logic of capital over approximately two hundred and fifty years. Specifically, it argues that (what became) the United States originated as a ‘society with capitalism’ and became a ‘capitalist society’. This transition was a highly complex and uneven process as a variety of social forms developed and interacted, and in which there was not one road to capitalism, but a variety, depending on the historical circumstance. To accomplish this, first, the article reviews the Marx‐Weber debate to develop a theoretical and methodological approach to the historical sociology of capitalism. The remainder of the paper focuses on narrating an empirical interpretation of the transition to capitalism including the diversity of labor forms capital historically utilized.     

INFORMATION, CAPITALISM AND UNCERTAINTY

This article argues that the changes characterized by many commentators as announcing the 'information age' are better seen, not as heralding a new type of society, but as the continuation, consolidation and extension of capitalism - something which is accompanied by constant upheaval and innovation. The shift from conceiving the 'information society' as a result of technological breakthroughs to one which lays emphasis on the primacy of 'information' itself is observed. The importance especially of informational labour's 'flexibility' is regarded, not as indicative of a new age but of the requirements of globalized capitalism which engenders change the better to consolidate its practices. The instability of life today is ascribed, not to the upheavals resulting from the 'information revolution', but rather to the insatiable dynamic that has long been a distinguishing feature of capitalist enterprise. These processes are examined in terms of the shift from public to private provision of information and in the heightened uncertainty of existence today.     

Trauma and ineloquence

The article is an attempt to interrogate the idea of anti‐capitalist politics in the light Rosa Luxemberg's notion of radical autonomism. My argument is that Luxemberg's hesitation before the Leninist demand for the strategic appropriation of political difference, gestures towards an idea of “the untimely” which is revived in the work of Naomi Klein and Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. The essence of this idea is that the media‐techno‐scientific organization of capitalism has given rise to unexpected forms of resistance and communication, and that these provide the basis of a new anti‐capitalist politics. In the concluding section of the paper I will present the difference between Klein and Hardt and Negri's versions of anti‐capitalism through a reading of Derrida's Spectres of Marx. I will suggest that if we take the “untimeliness of the untimely” seriously, then it is Klein's gesture of welcome to the different forms of political activism that arise from the global organization of capital, which is closer to the spirit of Luxemberg's anti‐Leninism.     

Passing through difference: C.L.R. James and Henry Lefebvre

ABSTRACT

This essay offers a comparative analysis of the work of Henri Lefebvre and C.L.R. James, both key contributors to the emergence of a humanist form of Marxism in the twentieth century. Independently of each other, both writers, I show, developed a mode of critique which emphasised capitalism’s dehumanizing social effects, and which rejected a merely instrumental or utilitarian political response. Consequently, both writers placed critical emphasis on those longings and demands made evident in the insurgent politics of everyday life and popular culture; in what both conceptualised as a search for ‘happiness‘. But at the same time, the comparison is important because it makes evident the extent of the divisive intellectual legacies of empire within European Marxism. Lefebvre’s work bears in itself the marks of a racialised understanding of human relations; the ’human’ of which he speaks is limited in ways that James challenged consistently.